Duncan severly sprains ankle shortly after opening tip
AUBURN HILLS, Mich. (AP) -- The San Antonio Spurs insisted they weren't thinking about Sunday's matchup with the Detroit Pistons being a possible NBA Finals preview.Too many things can happen over the next three months, they said.
Seeing Tim Duncan turn his ankle in gruesome fashion and crumple to the court in pain could've only pushed postseason thoughts further from their minds.
Despite losing Duncan moments after the tip, San Antonio put together a gritty performance.
But Chauncey Billups scored 25 points, including five straight to blunt a late Spurs' rally, and the Pistons went on to beat San Antonio 110-101 on Sunday.
Detroit has won 12 straight at home, its longest streak since the 1990-91 season.
"You want to establish home dominance and we've done that," Billups said.
Tayshaun Price scored 22, Rasheed Wallace had 15 and Richard Hamilton, limited by a sprained left ankle, added 11 points for the defending NBA champions. Reserves Carlos Arroyo had 13 and Antonio McDyess added 12.
The Western Conference-leading Spurs, who won the 2003 NBA title, had won three consecutive games and eight of 10.
They are hoping Duncan's injury is not as bad as it looked.
His right ankle turned sharply after he scored and landed on Wallace's foot under the basket in the opening minutes.
He immediately grabbed his right foot as he fell to the floor, where he stayed for a few minutes before being helped off without putting weight on his right foot. Duncan missed two games earlier this month with a sprained right ankle.
The Spurs said X-rays were negative and Duncan is day to day. Before he left the arena, Duncan said he didn't know how serious the injury was.
"It's the same ankle that he sprained a couple weeks ago, but this was much worse," San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich said. "It's going to be a while."
The two-time MVP and NBA Finals MVP began the game averaging 21.2 points, 11.5 rebounds and 2.7 blocks this season.
His teammates did their best to make up for the huge void.
Six Spurs scored in double figures: Devin Brown (18), Beno Udrih (15), Manu Ginobili (14), Rasho Nesterovic (13), Nazr Mohammed (13) and Tony Parker (12). Ginobili played 16 minutes after missing five straight games with a strained right groin.
"I think teams have the tendency to let down a little when Tim is not on the court and I think maybe we did that initially," said Pistons coach Gar Heard, filling in for Larry Brown.
Robert Horry's 3-pointer with 3½ minutes left pulled San Antonio within two, then Billups ended its comeback hopes.
Billups made a three-point play and a shot under the basket to give the Pistons a 104-97 lead with just under a minute left. Detroit scored 11 of the last 15 points.
"Every time we got close, down three or down four, they made a big basket," Parker said.
Parker said the Spurs have to prepare to play without Duncan.
"We've played without him before, and we just have to keep going," he said. "It's not like we have a choice. Our other big guys will have to do more and the rest of us will have to step up."
The Pistons had dropped 10 of their last 12 meetings with the Spurs, including an 80-77 setback on Dec. 3 at San Antonio.
Brown missed his fourth straight game and is out indefinitely after having surgery related to a November hip operation.
The game was tied at 31 in the first, surprising point totals for the NBA's top two defensive teams.
"Well, it killed both teams' defensive average," Heard said.
Detroit led 62-52 at halftime after 10 lead changes and nine ties, and 81-76 after three quarters.
Man... missing Duncan.. remember.. everything can be changed in Season or in playoffs..!!! o...
that's bad news for spurs....
but may be even worse for Dallas, Kings and Rockets....
coz if the Spurs lost a couple of games during Duncan's injury.. then they might have to face the Spurs in playoff......... yes... maybe that's a good news for Suns and Heats in this case right...
it's very hard to predict what's goin' to happen this year........;)
maybe Shaq can win again... yes, if Heats will not have injury, they may have the biggest chances! [quote]Originally posted by [i]brightlee[/i] at 2005-3-21 03:44 PM:
yes, if Heats will not have injury, they may have the biggest chances! [/quote]
However, Heats are 1-7 vs Spurs, Suns, SuperSonics and Mavericks (the current top four seeds in the West) in regular season. Do you guys think Heats can beat any of these four teams, say, if they match up in the Finals? [quote]Originally posted by [i]catbert[/i] at 2005-3-21 09:45 PM:
However, Heats ar ... [/quote]
if Duncan's injured, i think Heat can beat Spurs and Dallas
for Suns and supersonics, their main players hvn't got much playoff experience, that may cost them No one knows what's happened in Playoffs
I watched NBA for many years, normally, the champion team.. will be coming.. as near at the end of the season, they could play really strong and crazy......
Of cos I am not a Heats fans..
in my mind, I hope Suns will win.....
but........ as I say.. no one knows in future.... let's see how;s going for this 3 or 4 weeks......
you will get a clear picture
See Pistons last year.
I guess they could win since R. Wallace was traded to Pistons. (you may not believe in that...)
but see the trend for Pistons last year after they got R. Wallace?! [quote]Originally posted by [i]brightlee[/i] at 2005-3-21 09:51 PM:
No one knows what's ... [/quote]
yeah, u r right that the team that run crazy in last month/ whole year always champ,
haha, i believe that u could foreseen Piston would win last year since Rasheed joined:D
so when i heard Webber joined 76ers, i got great hope....but it's broken now.... for 76 ers, team chemistry for Webber/Iverson is not working.
poor them....!!
East, I think Boston would be the East Final...... em.. since when they got A. Walker, the team Chemistry is back.
of cose they would have a really tough game vs Pistons...
but in this year, the backups for Pistons is not as good as last year (losing Mike James, Okur to kill them)
so it wouldbe funny to see in East. wahahhaha
it's actually still '立立亂' in both conferences at this stage......
but i really dun wanna see Boston qualifying ar..
i hate Walker so much..
i hate his dances like hell.... but in team chemistry and formation.. and after Walker is back to Boston, they lost 1 game only.
so their team spirit is really high now...
and think deeply,
except they don't get a big man (except Blount)
they get everything,
steals, 3 points, assists, rebounds, blocks, 6th man ... they get everything..... yeah.. they are a good team now...
and that's what i dun wanna see....
haha, anyway, this year will be funny to watch.. yes, the top 4 in East would be really funny...
Heats may lost to Wizards if Larry hughes/Gibert Arenas get crazy in playoffs
similar as Boston vs Pistons o right, Wizards got great potential as well, they got some depth in their roster as well My hunch is Detroit and Boston will take seven games to decide which team will advance - and I bet it will be Detroit. Miami can probably finish Washington in 5-6 games. And it will take Miami seven games to beat Detroit and advance the the NBA Finals.
Again, just my hunch ... yes, but they may not playing good in playoffs this year, nearly No players have experience in playoff,
give them some years to learn the experience in playoffs
they should have a bright future. [quote]Originally posted by [i]crap[/i] at 2005-3-21 10:44 PM:
o right, Wizards got great potential as well, they got some depth in their roster as well [/quote]
Yes, the Wizards are having a great year. Nevertheless, they don't really have a decent front-court player with the exception of Antawan Jamison, who is on the IL now. In that case, it will be tough for them to play against the Heat. [quote]Originally posted by [i]brightlee[/i] at 2005-3-21 10:49 PM:
yes, but they may not playing good in playoffs this year, nearly No players have experience in playoff,
give them some years to learn the experience in playoffs
they should have a bright future. [/quote]
brightlee, they = ? yes, their big men are injury pluged and really young ah,....
so... that why Heats could have a great adv...
but if the "thevies" may be frustrated Wade, it could be another story
you know, if the PG playing badly, normally that team will be finished straightly